Self Wrighteousness

The Reverend Jeremiah Wright is a bullfrog, his forked tongue lashing at the hopes and dreams of many Americans who have put their faith in the leadership of a fellow African-American. A man who so dearly wants to be the next President of the United States and who seeks to bring this country back to its greatness has been challenged by the misgivings of a man intent on making racism a dominant issue.

Barack Obama has been the darling among younger generations who are drawn to his political charisma that instills a sense of better days to come. The passionate speeches of Barack have incited scores of people to become voters for the first time in their lives. Their beliefs that a change is going to come has given them a cause for patriotism, an idea lost among the actions of a maverick president that have wrought upon America the distaste and disdain of the world community.

The relevance of the speeches of the Reverend has been allowed to overshadow those of the Senator. His words blatantly put the nomination of Obama in jeopardy. He puts self-interest before the needs of the very country that he so harshly criticizes. This is in contrast to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. forty years ago, widening the division between whites and blacks and damaging the integration among all minority groups. The Doctor would be appalled, his prescription for equality never fulfilled.

At a time when Obama must place his full attention to promote his causes for the America he envision, Jeremiah’s ranting gives pause to Obama’s effectiveness to draw the support he has easily perfected up to this point. A lot of political damage has already been done and the prospects of more of the same are likely.

The primary elections are coming to an end, the last of which foresees Obama with a disturbing handicap. Senator Hillary Clinton is on a roll with this controversy, giving party leaders reason to put into question Obama’s ability to draw voter support among whites and blue-collar workers. Hillary is making the most of his vulnerabilities, taking her cause to the Super Delegates who will most likely take on the responsibility to award the nomination to the candidate with the best chances to keep the presidency out of the hands of presumed-Republican nominee Senator John McCain. It is deemed an important step to avoid a veritable showdown at the Democratic National Convention.

An assumption that Barack would become the Democratic nominee has been diluted because of the words and actions of Rev. Wright. The media feeds on the controversy, especially by means of unrelenting talk show hosts and political commentators who take pride in their influence of public opinion. They leave free speech with a bad taste of journalism.

Barack was much to kind, missing the opportunity to quell the initial controversy. Jeremiah did not deserve that degree of respectful consideration. The limelight is now on the Reverend and again Barack has failed to show the degree of contempt for the man than what is demanded. Barak has shown no passion against the Reverend, as he has toward his goal to make a change in America’s future. A superpower can’t sustain its greatness by a president hopeful who is meek and mild in responding to what amounts to a personal crisis.

Of all adversaries, Reverend Wright may very well be the elephant of them all, more so than the Republican Party. He shows no shame, no blame and no sense of responsibility for the misgivings he has created for Senator Obama.

If by chance Obama can weather the demagoguery of a racist religious cleric to win the Democratic presidential nomination, he may not be able to have the same success in the General Election. History may show a failed attempt to show the world that America is truly a nation of equal employment opportunities.

It appears Wright is willing to be the spoiler in a political contest where he apparently puts more faith in a white man and a white woman than he does in someone of his own racial background.